Willing to risk it all.
Of course Michael Jordan is one of the most famous athletes in the world, so NASCAR needs him a lot more than he needs them. But he was still willing to risk his race team – and quite a bit of money that he’s put into it – in order to push for change within the sport.
The NBA legend is, of course, co-owner of 23XI Racing, along with Cup Series superstar Denny Hamlin, which fields the #23 car of Bubba Wallace, the #45 of Tyler Reddick, and the #35 car for Riley Herbst.
The team entered the NASCAR Cup Series back in 2021, and made a splash in the sport almost immediately. The star power and marketing prowess of Jordan has allowed the team to attract some of the biggest sponsors in the sport, names that have included recognizable brands like McDonald’s, DraftKings, Xfinity, Monster Energy, and even Eric Church’s downtown Nashville bar Chief’s, and led to Wallace winning his first Cup Series race in his very first season with 23XI after spending 3 years struggling with another team.
The biggest impact Jordan has had on the sport, though, came in the courtroom when 23XI Racing filed a lawsuit against NASCAR last year.
The lawsuit was a result of teams that were unhappy with the charter agreement that was being offered by NASCAR in 2024, which (among other things) expired after 7 years.
If you’re not familiar, a charter basically guarantees a team a spot in every race, as well as a larger portion of the race purse than teams who race without charters. Teams wanted the charters to be made permanent so their investments were secure and weren’t at risk of becoming worthless when the charter agreement expired in 7 years, but NASCAR wouldn’t budge and gave teams an ultimatum in September 2024: Sign the agreement or lose your charters.
Teams weren’t happy, but most owners begrudgingly signed the agreement – because they didn’t have any other option.
Two teams didn’t sign the agreement though: Michael Jordan’s 23XI Racing, and Front Row Motorsports. Instead, the teams filed a bombshell antitrust lawsuit against NASCAR, accusing them of illegal anticompetitive conduct and demanding major changes to the sport.
The lawsuit ended up being embarrassing for NASCAR as emails and text messages were produced throughout the course of the litigation, and 8 days into the trial last December it was clear that NASCAR was losing – both in court and in the court of public opinion.
As a result, NASCAR finally agreed to settle the lawsuit and give the teams permanent charters, and increased voice in governance of the sport, and a bigger portion of revenue – something that never would have happened without Jordan.
Of course in filing the lawsuit, 23XI risked losing all three of its charters and being forced to close its doors. In fact, the team admitted in court filings that they would have shut down at the end of the 2025 season if they lost their charters permanently, a move that would have cost the owners millions of dollars on their investments they had put into building a team.
It was a gamble that most owners wouldn’t take, but Michael Jordan isn’t most owners: He’s one of the most powerful figures in all of sports, with a bank account that could fund an expensive lawsuit. But more importantly he’s a lifelong NASCAR fan who was willing to stand up to the sport in what he saw as an opportunity to make it better in the long run.
And during a recent interview with CBS Mornings, Jordan opened up on his thinking behind putting his race team – and his place in NASCAR – at risk.
According to MJ, he didn’t believe NASCAR was set up to benefit those in the sport:
“Well, when I got into the sport, obviously, as I learned, there was a lot of things that I wasn’t really happy about. The sport was not set up for success long term for the individuals that’s involved in the sport.
Now, up top, they were making a good living. And the people that were putting on the show was not getting the type of recognition, compensated fairly.”
Jordan says it took some time to learn the business of the sport, but once he did, he knew things needed to change:
“I didn’t have a say-so initially, cause I had to get in an understanding and know. And once I did, we got to an opportunity where, okay, we need some changes.”
Of course he knew the decision to file the lawsuit against NASCAR would be a risk, but he knew it was one that he was willing to take – and one he believed he would win:
“Even if I get kicked out of the sport, even if I lose the lawsuit, I’m going to wake up some people to understand what they are actually doing is wrong. …
When we laid the lawsuit and people became aware that we were NASCAR, I was all in. I was aggressively going to win.
I became a competitor all over again. First of all, I wouldn’t sue you if I didn’t think we had a good case.”
But Jordan emphasizes that he truly wanted to make the sport better for fans, as not only a team owner but as a longtime NASCAR fan himself:
“I’ve been a fan. It’s not like I just woke up and said, you know what? I’m going to go and I’m going to attack NASCAR. No, I’ve been involved in NASCAR. I’ve been supportive of NASCAR for a long period of time.”
It was clearly a gamble that paid off, with the settlement no doubt benefitting both teams and fans.
And it resulted in some major changes to the sport, not only in the terms of the agreement but in its ripple effects: In the immediate aftermath of the lawsuit and the embarrassing text messages from NASCAR executives that became public, Commissioner Steve Phelps announced that he was stepping down. And while it’s hard to say whether it’s a result of the stability provided by the lawsuit, there have been several major sponsors either enter the sport or drastically increase their presence – i.e. their dollars – over the past couple of months.
Of course it’s also seemed to have paid off for 23XI Racing: Tyler Reddick has won 4 of the first 6 races this season, including the Daytona 500, amid a notable improvement in their performance from last season when the lawsuit no doubt was a distraction in the shop.
There aren’t many people who would be willing to risk their place in the sport to challenge NASCAR like 23XI Racing and Front Row Motorsports did. But Michael Jordan isn’t your typical NASCAR team owner – and he was willing to be forced out of the sport if it meant standing up for his team.
